INTENSE footage shows armed cops snaring a drugs gang and seizing weapons and £5,000 cash in six raids across the UK.
Addresses in Manchester, West Yorkshire and Staffordshire were stormed by police carrying guns.
Cops say it is the result of months of “meticulous investigations” in a bid to rid British streets of guns.
On Thursday morning, six warrants were executed across north Manchester, West Yorkshire and Staffordshire targeting a gang described by police as “one of the most harmful in Greater Manchester”.
Dozens of officers were involved in the early morning action at numerous addresses across the three regions.
Class A drugs were recovered after being launched out of a window in north Manchester and £5,000 in cash was also seized.
Four men have been arrested after the series of successful raids.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the arrested men, aged 22, 21 and two 19-year-olds, were held on suspicion of conspiracy to possess a firearm.
The operation was led by the force’s specialist anti-gang unit, codenamed Xcalibur.
Det Ch Insp Lee Moriarty said the unit was looking for serious organised criminals.
“We suspect this group has a really significant foothold when it comes to harassment, violence and intimidation.”
“We suspect them of large scale drug-dealing, money laundering and the cuckooing of addresses.”
Cuckooing is a practice where people take over a person’s home and use the property to hide drugs or guns.
Meanwhile, in Moston, a woman was seen opening her door and telling officers she has a baby inside.
It soon becomes apparent the suspect they’re after isn’t in.
Cops added that those impacted by raids – such as the woman and the baby in the Moston house this morning – will be supported by officers and referred on to other agencies for any further help they may need.
Officers will continue to raid alternative addresses in their hunt for that particular suspect.
DCI Moriarty said following this morning’s warrants: “Enforcement operations like the warrants executed this morning illustrate how seriously we take issues of gun crime and youth violence, and we will always proactively tackle these issues,”
“This supports and strengthens the work we do every day of the year across the force to reduce the threat of serious organised crime.
“Information from the public is vital if we are to have a real impact on organised crime groups and I would appeal to anyone who has information to come forward.”
The raids come after Greater Manchester Police said they recovered 232 illegal firearms between 2020 and 2023, including two Skorpion sub-machine guns.
They also reported a steady decrease in known firearms discharges.
Cops say there were 58 in 2021; 29 in 2022; and 26 in 2023.
The force added that there have been 18 incidents involving guns in 2024 to date.
